ARELEY KINGS

Descriptive Notes:

Also known as Areley Regis, King's Areley and Lower Arely [11] [44]

Directories:
ARELY-KING'S, or LOWER ARELY, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of DODDINGTREE, county of WORCESTER, ¾ of a mile (S. W. by W.) from Stourport, containing 358 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £9, and in the patronage of the Rector of Hartley. The church, which is situated on an eminence, whence there is a remarkably fine and extensive prospect, is dedicated to St. Bartholomew. In the burial-ground is a rude sepulchral monument, composed of oblong square stones, piled on each other, and bearing a quaint rhyming distich, importing that a person named Sir Harry lies interred beneath it. Who Sir Harry was, has not been satisfactorily ascertained; but an affecting story is related of an individual who was driven into seclusion here, from the loss of an only female child, that was drowned by falling from his arms, as he held her at a window, into a moat beneath, and who is supposed to have been interred here. At Redstone Ferry, on the river Severn, which forms a boundary of this parish, is a very high rock, in the side of which was excavated a hermitage, consisting of a chapel with an altar and some apartments: over the altar was painted a figure of an arch-bishop saying mass; in 1736, several human bodies, supposed to have been those of the hermits, were discovered. Layamon, author of a poetical Chronicle of British History, from Brute to Cadwallader, who states himself to have been a priest residing at Erenlege on the Severn, and who lived in the latter part of the twelfth century, is said to have been born here. [Typographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]
Originally a chapel in Martley Ancient Parish. A separate parish by 1535 although there are 17th century references to its continued dependence. Abolished civilly in 1933, part to Astley Ancient Parish & part to Stourport Rural District & Civil Parish [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO802710
Areley Kings is a village in the Severn Valley, 1 mile S.W. of Stourport-on-Severn on the A451, the River Severn forming the boundary between Areley Kings and Stourport
Dunley and Oakhampton are 1 mile S.W. Coney Green is ½ mile N.W. [57]

Parish Church:
St. Bartholomew

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1]

Hundred:
Upper Doddingtree [11] [25] [28]

Poor Law Union:
Martley [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Lower Mitton, Hartlebury, Astley, Abberley, Rock & Ribbesford [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1539-1919	[5]
	Marriages	1539-1941	[5]
	Burials	1539-1893	[5]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1608 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1539-1835
	Marriages	1539-1895
Bishops' Transcripts	Births / Christenings	1608-1700 (54%)

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
Bloom's Worcestershire MIs, Part1 Manuscript - Author: Bloom, J Harvey (trans.) Society of Genealogists [59]

Census Records:
Access to all the censuses between 1841 and 1901 is now widely available on the library edition of Ancestry.co.uk at most record offices. You are strongly advised to book time on their computers before making a visit.
Many commercial organisations have issued CDs and DVDs covering all the censuses from 1841 to 1901.

Some repositories offer census details on microfiche as listed below:
1841-1901 at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [14]

Search Services (Fee paying) - BMSGH and Independent:
Burial 1660-1893 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Areley: Court roll 1753-78

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Notes re members of Riley family of Manchester 1787-90

Schools Records:
A handlist of the records of schools and of other educational establishments held by Worcestershire Record Office for this parish can be found at here.

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 19th March  2008

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