STOURBRIDGE, a market-town in that part of
the parish of OLD-SWINFORD which is in the lower
division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE, county of
WORCESTER, 21 miles (N. by E.) from Worcester, and
124 (N.W.) from London, containing 5090 inhabitants.
This place, originally called Bedcote (the manor still retaining
that name), derives its present appellation from
the erection of a bridge, about the time of Henry VI.,
across the small river Stour, which here separates the
counties of Worcester and Stafford. The surrounding
country abounds with coal and iron stone, the mines
of which appear, by a manuscript in the possession of
the Lyttelton family, to have been worked so early as the'
reign of Edward III.; and the manufacture of glass was
established here in 1557, about the period it was introduced
into this country from Lorraine. The town consists
chiefly of one long street, called' the High-street,
which is well flagged and Macadamized, and the lower;
part spacious, and containing some good houses; the,
upper is somewhat narrow. A subscription library was
established in 1790; it contains about three thousand
volumes, and is under the management of a president
and a committee of twelve members; Parkes, the self-,
taught and celebrated chemist, was the first president..
There are races on two days in the last week in August,
during which the theatre, a small and mean looking
building, is open; assemblies are held monthly during
the season. The principal branches of trade and manu-.
facture are those of glass, iron, and fire-bricks; the first
is now carried on to a very great extent, there being twelve
houses in the immediate neighbourhood in which the dif-,
ferent varieties of flint, crown, bottle, and window glass,
are manufactured, besides several cutting-mills. The
flourishing state of this branch of manufacture is chiefly
owing to the plentiful supply of fuel, and to the existence,
near the town, of that superior species of clay used in
making glass-house pots, crucibles, and fire-bricks,
which is found here in large quantities, and furnishes a
considerable article of export, by the name of " Stourbridge
fire clay:" the best lies at about one hundred
and fifty feet below the surface of the earth, in strata
of three or four feet thick, in the compass of about
two hundred acres, near the town: large quantities
of these fire-bricks are made, and sent to London and
other places. The manufacture of iron forms also a
most important branch of the trade of this town
and neighbourhood, and the manufactories are generally
on a most extensive scale, particularly that of
Bradley and Co., which covers nearly four acres, and
gives employment usually to about one thousand men:
nearly every article in wrought or cast iron is here
manufactured, comprehending in the foundry, steamengines,
boilers, gasometers, and every description
of heavy machinery; the bearers, roofs, and fireproof,
guards belonging to the custom-house, the new
post office, and the recently erected portion of the
British Museum, were cast here; in the wrought-iron
manufactory are made merchant, wire, and sheet, iron;
hoops; nail-rods; small rounds and squares, &c. In
the other manufactories are made the various articles
of hammered iron, besides scythes, spades, anvils and
vices, plantation tools, chains, called gearing, &c.; but
that branch of the trade which is carried on to the
largest extent is the making of nails, which, in the town
and neighbourhood, affords employment to some thousand
men, women, and children. The trading interests
aregreatly benefited by a canal, which, running from
the town to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal,
connects it with that extensive line of inland /navigation
which spreads in various branches over-the mining
and manufacturing districts of the country, arid also
with the Severn, affording an opening for the transit of
goods to all parts of the kingdom. The market, granted
in I486, by Henry VII., is on Friday, and is well attended.
The market- house, recently erected, at an expense
of about £ 15,000, is a handsome brick building; the principal
front, looking towards the High-street, is stuccoed,
in the Doric order of architecture: it consists of a
spacious triangle, the sides being formed by an arcade,
under which those who attend the market expose their
goods for sale; the area in the centre is left open, and
that portion of the front not occupied by the entrance
is disposed in shops. The fairs are on the 29th of March
and 8th of September; the former, which continues seven
days, is a celebrated horse fair; the latter is for horses,
horned cattle, sheep, and pedlary. A court of requests,
for the recovery Of debts under 40s., the jurisdiction of
which extends over the parish of Old Swinford, is held here.
An episcopal chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas, was
erected, by subscription among the inhabitants, under
an act of parliament obtained about a century since;
it is a neat brick edifice, with a square tower, and is not
within the jurisdiction of the bishop; the inhabitants
possess the power of appointing the minister. There,:
are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends,
Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, Presbyterians, and
Roman Catholics. The free grammar school was founded
and endowed by letters patent, granted in 1553, by
Edward VI. -. it has a very considerable endowment,
from which £150 is paid to the head-master, and £90
to the second master; the remainder, according to a
special clause in the deed of endowment, after deducting
for repairs of the school, &c., is divided between
them; each master has also a good rent-free residence.
The government is vested in eight of the principal
inhabitants, who are a body corporate, and elect the
masters. For several years there were no pupils on the
foundation, but at present there are. a few: attached to
the school is a library of ancient books. Dr. Johnson
received the rudiments of his education in this school
until he was fifteen years of age; but the report of his
having been a candidate for the head-mastership is void
of truth. A National school was erected in 1815, and
is supported by voluntary contributions; nearly three
hundred children are instructed in it, and it is also used
as a Sunday school. This town has the privilege of sending
four boys to a noble institution called the Blue-coat
hospital, founded by Thomas Foley, Esq.; and it also
participates in the advantages of the endowments of
John Wheeler and Henry Glover; but as these institutions
are for the benefit of the parish generally, an account
of them will be given under the article OLD
SWINFORD. There are twenty-two friendly societies,
composed of about one thousand five hundred members,
who assemble on Whit-Monday, and proceed to clrarch,
with banners and music. In a. sandy tract of ground
to the westward of the town, numerous detached por-
tions of jasper, porphyry, rock-salt, granite, chalcedony,
agate, cornelian, and several varieties of marble, supposed
to be diluvial remains, have been discovered.