WRIBBENHALL, a hamlet in the parish of KIDDERMINSTER,
lower division of the hundred of HALFSHIRE,
county of WORCESTER, situated on the left
bank of the Severn, immediately opposite Bewdley,
and connected with that town by a noble bridge
over the river. The population is returned with the
parish. Here is a chapel for the service of the
church of England, but not consecrated: it was erected
in the year 1701, at the expense of the inhabitants
of the hamlet, on a plot of waste land belonging
to Lord Foley, and was subsequently claimed by
his lordship, as lord of the manor: this gave rise to
litigation, and, after various decisions, it was given
in his favour. Since that period his lordship has
continued to appoint the minister, who held his situation
solely by virtue of such presentation, until its
existence was legalized by a clause in an act of parliament
which passed in the early part of the reign
of George IV., relating to dissenting places of worship,
which excepts from its provisions all chapels wherein
the service of the church of England had previously
been performed: it is exempt from all ecclesiastical
jurisdiction. The inhabitants support, by voluntary
subscription, and by a collection after a sermon
preached for the purpose, two schools in Bewdley,
for children whose parents reside in the hamlet; in
these about twelve boys and twenty-five girls are instructed.