ELTON is a parish situated on the road from Ludlow to Wigmore, distant 5 miles
S.W. of Ludlow, 10 N.N.W. of Leominster, 24 N. of Hereford, and 3 N.E. of
Wigmore; is in Ludlow union and county court district, Wigmore hundred,
polling district, and petty sessional division, The population in 1861 was
108; in 1871, 95; inhabited houses, 18; families or separate occupiers, 18;
area of parish, 1,463 acres; annual rateable value, £1,302. Mrs. H.A. Salwey
is lady of the manor, and, with Andrew Johnes Rouse Boughton Knight, Esq., of
Downton castle, owns the land. The parish abounds in wood; the soil is loam,
gravel, and clay; subsoil, clay; chief produce, wheat, beans, barley, and
oats. Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., the ingenious author of "A Treatise on the
Culture of the Apple and the Pear, and on the Manufacture of Cider and Perry",
once resided in this parish. Elton is in the diocese and archdeaconry of
Hereford and rural deanery of Leominster; living, a vicarage; value, £60, with
55 acres of glebe; patron, Rev. Charles William Neville Custance; vicar, Rev.
Charles Kent, B.C.L., of Queen's College, Cambridge, who was instituted in
1844, and is also vicar of Ludford, and resides at Ludlow. The Rev. George
Hollis Clay, M.A., of Clare College, Cambridge, rector of Aston and vicar of
Leinthall Starkes, acts as curate of this parish. The church (St. Mary's) is a
small ancient edifice, with no special architectural features. It is now
undergoing restoration. It contains nave, chancel, tower with two bells,
handsome screen, porch, font, old register chest, and tablets to the memory of
J.C. Hawkins, Esq., and to Mrs. Walpole, daughter of Thomas Andrew Knight,
Esq. In the chancel is a lion and a unicorn of the date of Queen Elizabeth,
which are considered curious. A stained glass window was erected at the west
end of the church in 1865, at the expense of the vicar. There is no day school
in the parish, but a Sunday school is held in a room belonging to Mrs. Salwey.
The charities are of £2 yearly value. Elton Hall is the residence of Mrs.
Salwey.
POSTAL REGULATIONS.- Letters are received through Ludlow, and arrive by
messenger from Leinthall Starkes at 8.30 a.m.; despatched thereto at 4.30 p.m.
Ludlow is the nearest money order and telegraph office and post town.
Parish Church (St Mary's).- Rev. Charles Kent, B.C.L., Vicar; Rev. George
Hollis Clay, M.A., Curate; Mr. George Lowe, Churchwarden.
Carrier to Ludlow.- William Thomas, passes through every Monday and Saturday
about 10 a.m., returning the same days at 7 p.m.