Shobdon, Herefordshire

Extract from Littlebury's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire, 1876-7
with Private and Commercial Residents

Transcribed by Rosemary Lockie, © Copyright 2004

SHOBDON,
WITH THE HAMLETS OF DOWNWOOD, EASTHAMPTON, LADYCOURT,
AND UPHAMPTON DIRECTORY.

SHOBDON is a large parish and neat village situated on the main road between Leominster and Presteigne, about 8 miles W.N.W. of Leominster, 6 E.S.E. of Presteigne, 18 N.W. of Hereford, and 3 N. of Pembridge station on the Leominster and Kington railway. It is in Stretford hundred, Leominster union and county court district, Pembridge polling district, and Wigmore petty sessional division. The population in 1861 was 503; in 1871, 454; inhabited houses, 98; families or separate occupiers, 114; area of parish, 3,491a. 2r. 36p.; annual rateable value, £5,327: The Right Hon. Lord Bateman is lord of the manor and principal landowner. Miss Tanner and Mrs. Harris are also landowners here. The soil is a light clay; subsoil, gravel and limestone; chief crops, wheat, hops, beans, barley, fruit, and pasture. The neighbourhood is well wooded. Shobdon is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Leominster; living, a rectory; value, £610, with residence and 60 acres of glebe; patron, Lord Bateman; rector, the Hon. and Rev. Arthur Allen Bateman Hanbury, B.A., of Christ Church, Oxford, who was instituted in 1853, and is also prebendary of Hampton in Hereford cathedral. The church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, is situate near Shobdon court, and is a cruciform building, with tower (containing two bells), nave, chancel, transept, organ, and a monument to the memory of the late Lord Viscount Bateman.

This church was erected about the year 1753, and occupies the site of the former edifice, which was built by Oliver de Merlylond, steward to Hugh de Mortimer, about the year 1140. He likewise founded near it a small priory for canons, which was afterwards removed to Eye, and thence finally to Wigmore. The parish registers commence with the year 1670. The charities are of £40 yearly value. There is a parochial school for boys and girls with accommodation for nearly 100 children. It was erected by Lord Bateman, and is chiefly supported by himself, his lady, and the rector. Shobdon Court, the seat of the Right Hon. Lord Bateman (Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county), is an elegant brick mansion, in the style of Louis XIV., and has a very beautiful entrance hall. The park is between three and four miles in extent, and includes some rich and picturesque scenery. It is stocked with deer, and studded with trees. Downwood is a hamlet I mile N.W. of the village; Easthampton lies to the N.E.; Ladycourt is 1 mile E.; and Uphampton is about 1 mile N. of the village.

POSTAL REGULATIONS.- Post and telegraph office, David Knight, Sub-Postmaster. Letters arrive at 6.40 a.m.; despatched at 6.55 p.m. Money orders are granted and paid, post office savings bank and telegraph business transacted. Shobdon being what is termed a Railway Sub-office, letters, &c., should be addressed - Shobdon, R.S.O. (Herefordshire.)
Parish Church (St. John the Evangelist).- Hon. and Rev. Arthur Allen Bateman Hanbury, B.A., Rector; Lord Bateman and Mr. Edward Hughes, Churchwardens; Thomas Seagrave, Parish Clerk.
Parochial School (boys and girls).- Mr. John Herbert Worthing, Master; Mrs. Sarah Worthing, Sewing Mistress.
Carrier to Leominster.- John Griffiths passes through on Fridays; stops at the King's Head Inn. Leominster.

SHOBDON,
WITH THE HAMLETS OF DOWNWOOD, EASTHAMPTON, LADYCOURT,
AND UPHAMPTON DIRECTORY.

PRIVATE RESIDENTS.
Bateman the Right Hon. Lord William
Bateman Hanbury (Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county (1852), M.A. (Cantab.), J.P. (for Northamptonshire), Shobdon court; and Buckingham Palace hotel, and Carlton club, London, S.W.
Coxon Charles, Esq., Uphampton house
Hanbury The Hon. and Rev. Arthur Allen Bateman, B.A., J.P. (rector of Shobdon, domestic chaplain to Lord
Bateman, and prebendary of Hampton in Hereford cathedral), The Rectory
Tanner Miss, Easthampton lodge
COMMERCIAL.
Coxon Charles, estate agent to the Right Hon. Lord Bateman, Shobdon Court offices
Edwards Aaron, farmer, The Farm
Edwards Edward, farmer, Downwood
Edwards Joseph, farmer, The Hole
Evans John, boot and shoe maker
Galliers Miss Letitia, farmer, Lower Ladycourt
Harper Charles, blacksmith
Hattersley Mr. J., private secretary to the Right Hon. Lord Bateman, Shobdon ct.
Hughes Edward, farmer, Ladycourt
Jones Thomas, farmer, Tan house
Knight David, grocer, provision dealer, and sub-postmaster, Post office
Lewis Thomas, farmer, Wood house
Monnington Joseph, farmer, The Leys
Morgan Edward, farmer, Hillhampton
Powell Richard, tailor
Seagrave Thomas, woodward and parish clerk
Small Charles, farmer, Easthampton farm
Smith Edward, Bateman's Arms Inn, and farmer
Thomas Richard, farmer, Ox house
Thompson Joseph, butcher and shopkpr.
Worthing John Herbert, schoolmaster

OCR/Transcription by Rosemary Lockie in June 2004.

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