KINGSLAND is an extensive parish comprising the townships above named, and situated in a rich valley, watered by the rivers Lugg and Pinsley. It has a station on the Leominster and Kington railway, distant 4½ miles N.W. of Leominster, 16 N.N.W. of Hereford, 10 S.W. of Ludlow, and 10 E.S.E. of Presteigne; is in Stretford hundred, Leominster union, county court district, and petty sessional division, and is a polling place for county elections. The population in 1861 was 1,150; in 1871, 1,138; inhabited houses, 265; families or separate occupiers, 299; area of parish, 4,735 acres; annual rateable value, £10,251 12s. 11d. The Right Hon. Lord Bateman is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are Lord Bateman, Richard Weaver Evans, Esq. (Eyton hall), Benjamin Lawrence Sanders, Esq., LL.B., W.H. Bradley, Esq., John Gethin, Esq., John J. Lewis, Esq., Thomas Roberts, Esq., Francis Parker, Esq. (Worcester), James Bevan, Esq. (Leominster), William Davis, Esq. (Dean park, Tenbury), Rev. W.T. Kevill-Davies (Croft castle), and Arthur H. Wall, Esq. The soil is clay and gravel, and is very fruitful, producing hops, wheat, barley, beans, roots, apples, pears, &c.

The parish is generally level, and there is a large portion of excellent meadow and pasture land. The rivers Lugg and Arrow are deservedly famed for trout, grayling, and other fish. The village of Kingsland is about a mile in length, and is remarkably neat and pretty. Most of the cottages have gardens. This parish was anciently a part of the great inheritance of the Mortimers. In the reign of Edward I., Margaret, widow of Lord Mortimer, procured a grant for a market and fair; the former has long been disused. The fair is held on October 11th, yearly, for cattle, sheep, horses and pigs. About a quarter of a mile above the village, at the junction of the roads, stands a neat Tuscan pedestal of white stone, erected by the neighbouring gentry to commemorate the celebrated battle of Mortimer's Cross, fought near this spot, between the partisans of the rival houses of York and Lancaster on Candlemas eve, A.D. 1460, the issue of which proved decisive in favour of the Earl of March, afterwards Edward IV., who commanded in person. On the base of the pedestal is the following inscription:-

Kingsland is in the diocese and archdeaconry of Hereford and rural deanery of Leominster; living, a rectory; value, £785, with residence and 63 acres of glebe; patron, W.H. Bradley Esq.; rector, Rev. William Henry Bradley, M.A., of ----- College, -----, who was instituted in 1876. The church, dedicated in honour of St. Michael, was built by Edward, Lord Mortimer, in the reign of Edward I. It is a massive stone building, with square embattled tower (containing six bells), and consists of chancel, nave, two side aisles, porch, piscina, sedilia, font, clock, and some neat monuments. It has been completely restored at a cost of £2,000, raised mainly through the exertions of the late Rev. Richard D. Evans, the former patron and rector, and was reopened September 3rd, 1868. G.F. Bodley, Esq., of London, was the architect. The church is one of much beauty, and is a very interesting specimen of the architecture of the early part of the 14th century. The fabric has not been altered by more recent additions, and therefore shows great unity of style.

The nave and aisles are fitted with oak benches, and the chancel with oak stalls. All the windows of the chancel are filled with stained glass, and its ceiling is beautifully decorated. The pavement is of Godwin's encaustic tiles. The nave roof, previously ceiled, has been opened out and restored. There are several memorial windows: one to a former rector of the parish; another placed in the tower by Mr. Edward Russell, jun., to the memory of his wife and child; another given by Miss Weyman, of Stagbatch; and one at the end of the north aisle, by Heaton, Butler, & Bayne, placed there by the patron, W.H. Bradley, Esq., in memory of his eldest daughter. The east window, of painted glass, was erected as a memorial to the late Rev. Richard Davies Evans, the cost being defrayed by the subscriptions of the parishioners and friends of the late rector. The parish registers begin with the year 1564. The charities bequeathed for the benefit of the poor amount to £15 14s. yearly. Here is a national school for boys and girls, under government inspection. It has an endowment of £5 per annum. A new school-room, capable of accommodating 150 children, was erected in 1874, at a cost (including fittings) of about £600. A commodious play-ground has been given out of the glebe by the rector. The old room is now used as an infant's school.

There is a Wesleyan chapel in the village built by Mrs. Holloway in 1857, and a Primitive Methodist chapel at Shirl heath, erected in 1861. Street Court is the seat of Benjamin Lawrence Sanders, Esq., LL.B., of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, J.P. and D.L. for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and lord of the manor of Hinton. This ancient mansion has been beautifully restored. It occupies a healthy and pleasant situation; the old Roman road (Watling street) passes near the grounds. The Rectory is a neat building in the old style, with extensive gardens and grounds, in which is the site of an ancient castle, which tradition states to be the burial-place of King Merwald, founder of the nunnery at Leominster. Aston is a township distant 1½ miles N.E. of the church; Lawton is about 2 miles S. of Kingsland and 3½ W. of Leominster; Longford and West Town form the village; Street is 1½ miles S.W.