FECKENHAM - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"FECKENHAM, a parish and small town in the upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, county Worcester, 5 miles N.W. of Alcester, and 7 S.E. of Bromsgrove, its post town. The Stoke Works station on the Birmingham and Gloucester railway is 5 miles N.W. of the town. The parish includes the hamlets of Callow Hill and Hunt End, with several small places consisting of a few houses much scattered. The inhabitants of this place and surrounding neighbourhood are for the most part employed in the manufacture of needles, pins, and fish-hooks.

The living is a vicarage* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] in the diocese of Worcester, value £330, in the patronage of trustees. The church is an ancient stone structure, built in the Gothic style of architecture, but, having undergone repeated alterations and repairs, its external appearance is now much altered. It is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and contains numerous monumental tablets. There is also an endowment of £57 to the free grammar school founded by Mr. Hanbury. Here is a National school for both sexes, and one for infants. John de Feckingham, a learned divine of the 16th century, and the last Abbot of Westminster, was a native of this place. The Earl of Coventry is lord of the manor. Fairs are held on 26th March and 30th September."
"ASTWOOD-BANK, is a large and pleasant village in the parish of Feckenham, in the county of Worcester, 2 miles N.E. of Feckenham, 3 S. from Redditch railway station, and 17 N.E. from Worcester. There are several needle factories in the village, affording employment to a large portion of the inhabitants. The Baptists have a spacious chapel here, erected at the cost of £1,200. The scenery is extremely rich and varied."

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