REDDITCH - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"REDDITCH, a district parish and post town in the parish of Tardebigg, upper division of Halfshire hundred, county Worcester, 6 miles S.E. of Bromsgrove, and 13 S.W. of Birmingham. It is a station on the Birmingham and Bristol section of the Midland railway. It is situated on an eminence near the Warwickshire border, and was, until recently, a chapelry in the parish of Tardebigg. The village, which has the appearance of a small but flourishing town, is within 2 miles of the Worcester canal, and is celebrated for its manufacture of needles and fish-hooks, affording employment to a large portion of the inhabitants.

It had a Cistercian Abbey, founded in 1138 by Maud, daughter of Henry I., and which is said to have extended over eight acres. Its chapel was not erased until 1807, up to which period it formed the only place of worship in Redditch. The town is well built, and lighted with gas. It contains two banks, a savings-bank, county court, literary and scientific institution, and several other public buildings. Petty sessions are held at Mr. Browning's offices weekly. The new line of road from London to Birmingham passes through the village. 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 £300.

The church, dedicated to St. Stephen, is a modern structure, with a tower containing six bells. The interior of the church is adorned with richly-designed windows. It contains a Devonshire marble font. There is a National school for both sexes. The Independents, Wesleyans, Roman Catholics, Primitive Methodists, and Arminians, have each a place of worship. Fairs are held on the first Monday in August and the third Monday in September."

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