GREAT WITLEY

Descriptive Notes:

Referring to St. Michael's Church, John Betjeman called this "the most sumptuous classic interior in England." It stands beside the enormous ruins of Witley Court, the mansion of the first Earl of Dudley, making an unforgettable group.
The church was consecrated in 1735. In form it is a plain rectangle with two shallow projections at the east end. Inside is brilliant baroque plasterwork in white and gold. This is the most Italian church interior in England. The ceiling paintings and the painted glass of the windows came from an estate near London and were fitted into St Michael's church with 'stucco' decoration actually made of papier-mâché. There is an enormous monument to the first Lord Foley who planned the building but died in 1732. [73]

Directories:
WITLEY (GREAT), a parish in the lower division of the hundred of DODDINGTREE, county of WORCESTER, 5 miles (S. W. by S.) from Stourport, containing with the hamlet of Redmarley, 354 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £7. 6. 3., and in the patronage of Lord Foley. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an elegant structure, erected about 1760, by the first Lord Foley and his widow, to whom it contains a superb monument: the windows, painted by Price, in 1719, and the ceiling by Verrio, were brought from the chapel at Canons, when that princely mansion of the late Duke of Chandos was pulled down, and the materials sold. [Topographical Dictionary of England 1831 by Samuel Lewis]

Status:
Ancient Parish [25]

Location:
O.S. Ref: SO769649
10 miles N.W. of Worcester along the A443

Hillhampton was formerly a part of Martley parish, now a part of Great Witley parish. It is 1 mile east of Great Witley & 6 miles S.W. from Stourport.
Redmarley is a hamlet ½ mile north. Little Witley is a chapelry, 2 miles S.E. of Great Witley, to which ecclesiastical parish it is now annexed. [11]

Parish Church:
St. Michael

Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction:
Archdeaconry & Diocese of Worcester [1] [25]

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

Poor Law Union:
Martley [3] [25]

Adjoining Parishes:
Abberley; Astley; Martley; Little Witley; Shelsley Beauchamp [1]

Parish Registers:

		Coverage	Source
Microform at WLHC	Christenings	1538-1968	[5]
	Marriages	1538-1975	[5]
	Burials	1538-1968	[5]
	Banns	1754-1818, 1824-1929	[5]
Transcripts at WLHC	Christenings	1538-1874	[27]
	Marriages	1538-1835	[27]
	Burials	1538-1849	[27]
	Banns	1754-1812	[27]

Bishops' Transcripts:
Begin 1612 Worcestershire Library and History Centre [22]

International Genealogical Index (IGI):
[19]

		Coverage
Parish Registers	Births / Christenings	1757-1875
	Marriages	1739-1875

Register Copies:
Christenings 1538-1874 Marriages1538-1835 Burials 1538-1849 Banns 1754-1812 BMSGH microfiche [9] Transcript: 1538-1874 Dudley Archives & Local History Service [62]

At Society of Genealogists [68] :-
Christenings 1538/9-1874, Marriages 1538-1835, banns 1754-1818, Burials 1538/9-1908 [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1969
Christenings, Marriages & Burials 1832 (BTs) [Microfilm.] - Published Salt Lake City : Genealogical Society of Utah, 1998
Christenings 1538-1874, Marriages 1538-1835, banns 1755-92, 1801-14, Burials 1538-1849 - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1985 - Author: Wright, Betty (trans.)

Monumental Inscriptions and Associated Documents:
Chapel Burial Ground BMSGH microfiche [53] and Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]
St.Michael & All Angels BMSGH microfiche [53] and Worcestershire Library and History Centre [51]

At Society of Genealogists [59] :
MIs in the chapel burial ground: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 11 [Typescript.] - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1992 - Author Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry (trans.)
MIs in the churchyard: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 9 [Typescript.] - Published , 1990 - Author Faraday, Michael Anthony (trans.)
St. Michael & All Angels: Worcestershire monumental inscriptions, vol. 14 [Typescript.] - Published Birmingham : Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy & Heraldry, 1994 - Author Farmer, G R (trans.)

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 1660-1840 Worcestershire Burial Index
Marriage see Worcestershire Marriage Index

Manorial Records:
Worcestershire Record Office [50]
Extent [c.1550]; Rent roll 1637

Parish Records on microform at Worcestershire Library and History Centre [13]
Poor relief account account book 1712-1832
Overseers of the poor & general accounts of the hamlet of Hillhampton 1826-82

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 here.

Other Sources:
At Society of Genealogists :-
Witley Court: Witley Court & church: life & luxury in a great country house - Published Peter Huxtable Designs Limited 1986 - Author: Pardoe, Bill
Witley Parish Church: a short history & guide to the parish church of St. Michael's & All Angels, Great Witley - Published 1960 - Edition 2nd edn. - Author: Goodwin, Bernard G
Witley, Worcestershire: a record of a parish - Published 1985 - Author: Walker, R O

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© Arthur Lewis and contributors 2008
Comments, additions, corrections etc to Arthur Lewis
Last updated on 3rd April 2008

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