| CLICK ON LINKS BELOW | ALDRIDGE HISTORY and GENEALOGY | |
| ALDRIDGE PARISH CHURCH <<<GO TO THE OFFICIAL ALDRIDGE PARISH CHURCH WEB SITE.. ROADS HISTORIC BUILDINGS INDUSTRY GO TO
To see the head of households on the 1881 census click here: |
Aldridge is the oldest of all the villages in
the district. It is believed there had been settlements in the area since the Middle Stone
age, flints have been found at Bourne Pool along with ancient earthworks. There was an
Iron Age hill - fort at Castlefort. The name Aldridge has been spelt in many different ways throughout its history, it was mentioned in the doomsday Book as 'Alrewic' and was valued at 15 Shillings. The village has been unaffected less, than nearby Brownhills and Walsall Wood, by the Industrial Revolution and Coal Mining, because the Cannock Chase Coal Fields came to an end and the seams of coal were forced down to inaccessible depths by the Vigo Fault just north of the village. The coal seams were accessible around Leighswood, Stubbers Green and Middlemore Lane areas and as a consequence these are the areas that have developed into the Industrial areas of the Town. Aldridge has a very long history, originally the village was called Alrewych and was a Manor in the Barony of Dudley. Manors were a part of the system of government introduced by William the First. The King owned all the land in the country and divided it up into estates which he gave to his selected Barons to lease in exchange for loyalty and military help if the King required it. The Barons of the estates used similar ideas and divided their Estates into Manors and leased these to Knights (who became Lord of the Manor) in exchange for their loyalty and help in defending the estate if needed and also fight along side the Baron if called upon by the King. At the bottom of the ladder, the peasants, serfs, cottagers were required to work the Lord of the Manors farm and carryout work on the Estate and provide other services and in return for this the Lord would lease them strips of land in the open fields, which they could work to provide food for their families. The problem was these strips of land were not together and were scattered across many fields, this was very wasteful of land and energy to cultivate them. This carried on nevertheless for many hundreds of years until the Act of Parliament ( The Enclosure Act) which enclosed the large fields and the Peasant Farmers were able to have all their land together in one piece. Aldridge has had many Lords of the Manor throughout its history. Originally Aldridge was combined with Great Barr and a Lord Robert held both areas in the estate of Baron William Fitz Ansculf of Dudley. The two Manors were eventually separated and Aldridge had as its Lords, the family of Nicholas de Alrewych, Roger de Morteyn, Sir Robert de Stapleton, ( who has a marble effigy in St Mary’s church), the Fenners family, the families of, Hillary, Mountford, and the Jordan family, who were Lords of the Manor in the late 1600’s ( Rev. John Jordan). The Lordship of the Manor eventually came through to, the Croxalls of Warwickshire through a marriage with the Jordan family. The Final Lords of the Manor were the Tongue family who gained it through Edward Tongue who Married Miss Sidney Croxall, the youngest daughter of Edward Croxall, of Shustoke, Warwickshire, on 4th July 1814. It is thought the present Manor house was built for Edward and Sidney as a wedding present, it would have replaced an older Manor house which may not have been on the same site. When Edward died in the late 1800’s the trustees of his estate sold off most of the Estate allowing Aldridge to develop into the Village it is today. At the centre of the Town is St Mary's Church, which is
one of 16 Anglican parishes which make up the Deanery of Walsall it had been founded by
the latter half of the 12th century. It was thought to have dated from 1250 when
,'Nicholas De Alrewych', who was an official of Cannock Chase Forest, was given the,'Manor
of Aldridge',and it was assumed founded the Church, he and his family took their names
from the village. However a charter has come to light recently at the 'Stafford Records
Office', which came from the late 1100's. It is a Charter concerning, Robert De Barr and 2
witnesses on the Charter were, Drago of Aldridge and a person called, 'Widon', The Parson
of Aldridge. See: St MARY'S CHURCH St Mary's Church, Aldridge. C. 1790. Showing the South view and the old Rectory to the East side. Aldridge has many fine listed buildings, although the town was modernised during the early 1960's and many old buildings and cottages were demolished in it's centre. The Town has had many important and wealthy families take up residence throughout its history. It has also been an excellent centre of learning for nearly 300 years, Aldridge Free Grammar School for boys was built in 1718 on land given by Rev. Thomas Cooper and was endowed by the Rev. John Jordan, Lord of the Manor, later in that year. To see details of some of the Buildings of Aldridge click below: CEDAR COURT
CLICK BOOK TO RETURN TO TOP. |
