ALVECHURCH - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"ALVECHURCH, a parish belonging to the middle division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, but detached from it and lying locally in the upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, in the county of Worcester, 4 miles to the N.E. of Bromsgrove. It is a station on the Redditch branch of the Birmingham, Gloucester; and Bristol section of the Midland railway. It is situated on the Birmingham and Worcester canal. The Roman way called Icknield, or Ryknield Street, passes through the parish. Alvechurch was a borough at a very early period, and the bishops of Worcester had a palace here from the reign of Henry II. till the period of the civil war.

In the year 1648, the manor was sold by the parliament, and the episcopal palace fell into decay and disappeared. The living is a rectory* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] value 1,200, in the diocese of Worcester, in the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester. The church is chiefly in the early English style, with some Norman pillars and a modern tower. It is dedicated to St. Lawrence. There is a free school established and endowed in 1742 by Dr. Worth, which has an income of £36. Lewkner's Hospital, which was incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, is for nine persons, and has a revenue of £33. The rectory of Alvechurch was held by Moore, the Nonconformist, and by Dr. Hickes, the learned author of the "Thesaurus Septentrionalium Linguarum"."
"FERRILL, a district in the parish of Alvechurch, county Worcester, 4 miles E. of Bromsgrove."
"HOPWOOD, a district in the parish of Alvechurch, county Worcester, 5 miles N.E. of Bromesgrove."
"LEA END, a district in the parish of Alvechurch, county Worcester, 7 miles S.W. of Birmingham. It is situated near the line of the North-Western railway."

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