BROMSGROVE, a market-town and parish (formerly
a borough) in the upper division of the hundred
of HALFSHIRE, county of WORCESTER, 13 miles (N.E.
by N.) from Worcester, 13 (S.W.) from Birmingham,
and 116 (N.W.) from London, on the road from Birmingham
to Worcester, containing 7519 inhabitants;
liament in the 23rd of Edward I. During the parliamentary
war it was the head-quarters of a party, of
royalists employed in the siege of Hawkesley House,
about three miles distant, which, in 1645, was fortified
and garrisoned by the parliament. The town is pleasantly
situated on the western bank of the river Salwarp,
and consists principally of one street, extending
for a considerable distance along the turnpike road:
the houses are in general substantial and well built,
and the inhabitants amply supplied with water. The
principal articles of manufacture are nails, needles, and
fish-hooks; and some coarse linen table-cloths and
sheeting are still made: in the neighbourhood, potatoes,
for the Bristol and other markets, are extensively cultivated.
The Birmingham and Worcester canal passes
within three miles to the east. The market is on Tuesday:
the fairs are on June 24th and October 1st. The
town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates;
a bailiff and other officers are annually appointed
at the court leet of the lord of the manor, held at
Michaelmas; and a court is held every third week, for
the recovery of debts under 40s. The town-hall is a
neat and commodious building, under which is a marketplace,
in the centre of the town. The living is a vicarage,
with the perpetual curacy of King's Norton annexed,
in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in
the king's books at £41. 8. \\., and in the patronage
of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The church,
dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a very ancient
structure, combining portions in the Norman style, and
others in the early, decorated, and later, styles of English
architecture, of which last the towe.r and spire,
and most of the exterior of the church, are fine specimens;
the interior contains many curious and interesting
monuments. There are places of worship for
Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians.
The free grammar school was founded, with
an endowment of £7 per annum, by charter of Edward
VI., confirmed by Queen Mary, who vested the
management in governors, whose appointment. of a
master is subject to the approval of the bishop of
the diocese. The original endowment was augmented
with £50 per annum by Sir Thomas Cookes, who in
1714 founded six scholarships, of £50 per annum each,
in Worcester College, Oxford, for this school and
four others in the county; and six fellowships, of £ 150
per annum each, in the same college, to which, as vacancies
occur, those who hold the scholarships s.ucceed.
There are twelve scholars on the foundation, who are
clothed, educated, and apprenticed: they are entitled
to the scholarships and fellowships above mentioned,
but the master's private pupils usually enjoy the benefit
of, them. There are some endowed almshouses in the
parish. At Dodford, two miles from the town, are
the remains of a small priory of Prejnonstratensian
canons, founded by Henry I. in 1190, now part of a
farm-house. At Shepley there are some traces of the
Roman Iknield-streef;; and near Gannow is a petrifying
spring. To the north of the town is BromsgroveLickey,
a range of lofty hills, commanding an extensive and
diversified prospect of the surrounding. country; a
considerable part, comprising a tract of two .thousand
acres, has been enclosed, and produces good crops of
clover, turnips, and potatoes. A spring, rising among
these hills, divides into two stream's/one of which flowing
northward, joins the river Rea, and uniting with
the Trent, falls into the North sea; the other, running
into the Stour, joins the Severn, and empties itself into
the Irish sea. .