Kinver in 1868

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]

KINVER, (or Kinfare), a parish in the S. division of the hundred of Seisdon, county Stafford, 4 miles S.W. of Stourbridge, its post town, 4 from Kidderminster, and 16 from. Birmingham. It is situated on the Stafford canal and the river Stour, and comprises the hamlets of Whittington and Compton.

Kinfare was once a borough and market town, and a place of considerable importance. It was also famed for its production of woollen cloths. On the S. side of Kinfare Edge are the remains of a Saxon camp, with a barrow and notched stone 12 feet in diameter and 6 feet high. Here are the extensive ironworks of Hyde and Whittington. The first rolling and splitting mill in England was erected at the former place. Spades, shovels, patent screws are manufactured here in large quantities. The soil is sandy loam and clay.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £200, in the patronage of trustees. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure with a tower containing six bells. The church was thoroughly restored in 1836. In the interior are brasses of Grey, and Hampton, of Stourton Castle, and several ancient monuments.

The parochial charities produce about £242 per annum, of which £114 goes to the free grammar school. There is a National school for both sexes. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel.

Stourton Castle is the principal residence, and was the birth-place of Cardinal Pole. J. H. H. Foley, Esq., is lord of the manor. Fairs are held on the last Tuesday in February for cattle, sheep, and pigs, and on the second Tuesday in May, and first Tuesday in December, chiefly for pigs and horses.

An 1868 Gazetteer description of the following places in Kinver is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Compton
• Stourton Castle

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]