DOWNTON is a parish delightfully situated on the banks of the river Teme, and surrounded by well-wooded country, distant 6 miles W. of Ludlow, 14 N. by W. of Leominster, 26 N. of Hereford, and 2 E. of Leintwardine; is in Wigmore hundred (Leominster division), Ludlow union and county court district, Wigmore polling district and petty sessional division. The population in 1861 was 184; in 1871, 185; inbabited houses, 29; families or separate occupiers, 39; area of parish, 1,201 acres; annual rateable value, £1,377. Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight, Esq., is lord of the manor and owner of the parish. The soil is light and shallow; subsoil, solid rock; chief produce, wheat, barley, roots, &c. Downton is in the diocese of Hereford, and archdeaconry and rural deanery of Ludlow; living, a vicarage; value, £170, with 28 acres of glebe; patron, the Lord Chancellor; vicar, Rev. T.P. Monnington, M.A. of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who was instituted in 1873. The church is a new and handsome structure of stone, in the Early English style of architecture, erected at the sole expense of A.J.R. Boughton Knight, Esq., and opened in April 1862. It cost £6,188, and is dedicate to St. Giles. The interior is beautifully fitted, and consists of nave chancel, and north aisle. It has a very pretty spire containing three bells.

The churchyard was given to the parish from the Downton castle estate. The old church is still standing. There is no residence for the vicar. There is a parochial school for boys and girls with about 50 scholars. It is supported by the subscriptions of A.J.R. Boughton Knight, Esq., and parishioners. Downton Castle, the property and seat of Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight, Esq., J.P., D.L., is an elegant residence, and may justly be considered one of the most picturesque in England. This mansion is built with stone, and situated on an elevated bank commanding a lawn bounded by the river Teme, and surrounded by an extensive amphitheatre of woods, admitting occasional views over a varied and beautiful country. The interior is fitted up with great taste and elegance, and some of the apartments are decorated with a few select pictures by the most eminent masters. This mansion was built by the late Richard Payne Knight, Esq., M.P. for Ludlow, in 1774, and was first inhabited in 1778. It has undergone considerable improvements within the last few years.