SHIPSTON-ON-STOUR - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"SHIPSTON-ON-STOUR, a parish and market town, formerly in the upper division of Oswaldslow hundred, county Worcester, but now in the Blockley division of Kineton hundred, 16 miles S.W. of Warwick, and 83 N.W. of London. The Stratford-upon-Avon and Moreton railway passes about 3 miles distant, to which there is a branch tramway for conveyance of goods. This place, which takes its name from the Saxon word seep, "a sheep", for the breeding of which animal it has long been celebrated, was formerly a township in the parish of Tredington, but was constituted a distinct parish by Act of Parliament in the reign of George I.

It is surrounded by the counties of Warwick and Gloucester, from the former of which it is separated by the river Stour. The soil is fertile, but clayey, upon a substratum of blue lias, containing numerous fossil shells. There are extensive nursery grounds at Furzehill, and on the Stratford road. The population in 1851 was 1,846, and in 1861, 1,760 the decrease being attributed to migration. The town is old and irregularly built, but contains some good houses. There is a branch bank connected with the Stonebridge and Kidderminster bank, a savings-bank, and union poorhouse.

The trade is now confined to agricultural produce, the manufacture of shag, which was formerly extensively carried on, having declined. In the vicinity is Weston House, the seat of Sir George Philips. Shipston is a polling-place for the eastern division of the county. Petty sessions are held at the "George Inn" every alternate Saturday. The Poor-law Union comprises 13 parishes in Gloucestershire, 20 in Warwickshire, and 4 in Worcestershire. The superintendent registry and new County Court districts are co-extensive with the Poor-law Union. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £700. The living is a rectory* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] in the diocese of Worcester, value with that of Tidmington, £738, in the patronage of the dean and chapter, who present to the living alternately with Jesus College, Oxford.

The church, dedicated to St. Edmund, was rebuilt in 1855, but the old tower at the W. end, containing six bells, still remains. The interior contains several monuments and brasses. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Baptists, and Society of Friends. The parochial charities produce about £150 per annum, chiefly arising from the bequests of John Pittway and George Marshall, of which £46 is applied to the support of the National schools, and the remainder distributed among the poor of the town. Market day is on Saturday, and there is a monthly fair for cattle. Fairs are held on the third Tuesday in April, 22nd June, last Tuesday in August, and Tuesday following 10th October."
"PORTO BELLO, a hamlet in the parish of Shipston-on-Stour, upper division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, county Worcester, 2 miles S.W. of Shipston-upon-Stour, and 17 S.W. of Warwick. It is situated in a fertile country in the vale of the river Stour."

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